Amnesty in call for decriminalisation of abortion

Published: 07 May 2007

As part of a campaign to stop violence against women, Amnesty
International's board is calling for abortion to be decriminalised
globally but US bishops say that the new policy will compromise its
previously excellent human rights record.

Radio
Australia reports that the human rights group's new approach overturns
a previous neutral position on the debate over abortion and women's
rights.

The new policy which forms part of Amnesty's global
campaign to stop violence against women says that women who have been
raped have the right to a safe abortion.

Widney Brown, Amnesty
senior policy and campaigns director, told reporters that the
organisation also viewed abortion as a right for women whose health was
threatened by a pregnancy and that the group would call for the
procedure to be decriminalised globally.

But Ms Brown said the
policy stopped short of backing abortion as a "fundamental right" for
women because that approach was not supported by international human
rights laws.

She said the board of the London-based group agreed
on the policy last month after two years of consultations involving
experts and the organisations more than 2.2 million members.

The
US Conference of Catholic Bishops also criticised the decision, saying
Amnesty risked its "excellent record as a champion of human rights" if
it abandoned its former neutral stance.

Amnesty also faces
political opposition to the policy change as more than 70 members of a
bipartisan US Congressional caucus against abortion urged Amnesty to
oppose the surgical procedure.